IN THIS ISSUE:

Board of Directors Heinz Kulüke, SVD

Maria T. Hornemann, SSpS Guy Mazola Mido, SVD

Jude Nnorom, CSSp Carmen Bandeo, SSpS Daisuke Narui, SVD

Zita Resch, ASC

Secretary Felix Jones, SVD

Executive Administration Helen R. Saldanha, SSpS

Robert Mirsel, SVD

VIVAT Int'l rep. in Geneva Andrzej Owca, CSSp

Contributed with this edition

Editors pro Tem John Converset, MCCJ Priscilla Burke, SSpS

Translators

Gustavo Aguilera, SVD Spanish

Daniel LeBlanc, OMI French

Simone Petra Hanel, SSpS German

Edni Gugelmin, SSpS Portuguese

CONTACT NEW YORK GENEVA +1 646 487 0003 +41 022 796 991

www.vivatinternational.org

NEWSLETTER No. 73 October - December 2017

Dear Readers, Welcome to the 73rd Edition of VIVAT Newsletter!

777 UN Plaza, East 44th Street, Suite 6F, New York, NY 10017 Tel. +1 646 487 0003 Email: viny@vivatinternational.org - www.vivatinternational.org

Stocktaking Phase.……………..… p. 2

India: Knowledge Partnerships… p. 3

England: Array of Hope………..… p. 4

Hungary: Prima Primissima.…. p. 5

Brazil: No Education, No Future… p.6

Rome: A Note from the 3rd Forum… p. 7

Geneva: In the Name of………… p. 8

Poland and Indonesia: Reaching Out to Refugee Families……… p. 9

A Leader in Words and……… p.10 Introducing SDGs (6)……… p. 12

During the months of October to Decem-ber 2017 there have been a number of events both at United Nations and grass-roots levels. Some of the dominant issues at the UN were migration and refugees, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Global Compact for Migration (GCM) has entered the next stage after a series of sessions at the UN for over 9 months of consultative phase to Stocktak-ing phase, in which inputs from civil soci-ety, private sector and academia were tak-en. This issue covers two of these impor-tant meetings in relation to GCM: The Thematic Session held in Geneva from 11 to 13 October, 2017 (p. 8) followed by the Stocktaking Meeting in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, 4-6 December, 2017 (p. 2 & 11). In both these, VIVAT International was present. Alongside, this issue also brings three sto-ries of good practices from the grassroots in relation to migration and refugee issue. The one is about St. Chad’s Sanctuary in Birmingham, UK that provides a place of welcome and practical support for asylum seekers and refugees (p. 4); another is about welcoming Syrian refugees in Dobrodzien, Poland (p. 9), and about empowering 400 refugee widows in West Timor (p. 9).

Fr. Daisuke Narui’s and Sr. Elisabeth Ped-ernal’s participation in the 3rd Forum of Catholic Inspired NGO’s (p. 7) and the inspiring work of Fr. Heinz Kulüke, SVD, President of VIVAT International, among the poor in slum areas of Cebu, the Philippines (p. 10), are included in this issue.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the main framework for UN commit-ment to humanity and Mother Nature, and many VIVAT members are working for their implementation at national and local level. In this issue we will find four articles related to SDGs. The first one is from India sent by Fr. Laurence Correa, SVD on a Conference on Knowledge Partnerships and SDGs (p. 3); Fr. Lourdu-raju’s work with the Gypsys in Hungary which led him to receive a prestigious award from Hungarian Government (p. 5), and Sr. Petronella (Nelly) Boonen’s human rights awareness raising educa-tional program in Brazil (p. 6). This issue ends with the 6th part of introduction to the SDGs (p. 12).

While welcoming new articles, we would like to thank all those contributed to this issue.

From December 4 to 6, 2017 the United Nations held the stocktaking meeting of the Intergovernmental Con-ference to adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The partici-pants were from 136 member states, with over of 400 delegates, 16 in-ternational Non-Governmental Organi-zations, VIVAT International among them, and UN specialized agencies. The stocktaking phase considered the inputs received from five regional meet-ings, two multi-stakeholder hearings, seven regional civil society consultations, and around 70 national consultations. The co-chairs of the meeting were the Permanent Representatives of Mexico and Switzerland to the United Nations in New York, Juan Jose Gomez Cama-cho and Jὓrg Lauber, the co-facilitators for the Global Compact for Migration (GCM). In the welcome ceremony, Louise Ar-bour, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for International Migration, gave an historical talk about the Global Compact for Migration (GCM) process, and expressed that there is a “lot of misperception in the migra-tion field that needs to be addressed”. People need to change the narrative of migration, and this narrative needs to be based on facts and not on perceptions. Luis Videgaray Caso, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, who also participated in the welcome ceremony, stressed that Mexico believes in the con-struction of bridges and not in walls. He, as many participating States, lamented the withdrawal of the USA from the UN process of the GCM. However, Videgaray expressed, Mexico will continue to work together with the USA in migration issues, since millions of Mexican people live in the USA.

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STOCKTAKINGPHASEFORTHEGLOBALCOMPACTFORMIGRATION

Rights Commission of Mexico, speak-ing on behalf of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institu-tions (GANHRI), mentioned the im-portance of having an accountability mechanism for the GCM. This should have principles of coherence and con-sistency, public access and trans-parency, responsibility for monitoring and oversight of the GCM, participa-tion and integration of all the stake-holders, and results-based work with clear timeframe and targets. The stocktaking meeting included a Ted-Talks lab, as a “platform to stimu-late analysis with innovative initiatives, ideas, visions and concrete objectives”. The speakers were from the civil soci-ety and business sector. The topics were about data and evidence, the public perceptions and narratives about migration, and migration and identity. In the second day, the participants were divided in action groups dis-cussing and analyzing the six dimen-sions from different perspectives: hu-man, community, local/sub-national, national, regional and global dimen-sions. The participants proposed “actionable commitments and means of implementation.” At the end of each session, the moderator and rap-porteur summarized the discussion and main outcomes of the action group. The human dimension group rappor-teur said that migration is about peo-ple who decide to move, and the voice of migrants needs to be heard in the GCM. People are the center in the GCM, and protection to the people is a responsibility, especially the children and migrants in vulnerable situations.

(continued to p. 11….)

During the first day, in the retrospec-tion session, looking back on phase 1, the panelists coming from UN agen-cies, academics, civil society, and par-liamentarians stressed the importance of change narrative and mispercep-tions driving public opinion and pub-lic policies about migration. In order to change these narratives, the pan-elists also shared facts about the im-pact of migration in development. For instance, 3.5% of the migrant popula-tion has contributed 9% of global GDP. Also, the impact of remittances is high in the origin countries. Mi-grants have a positive impact on the development of the origin and desti-nation countries.

The panelists also spoke against the detention of unaccompanied children and the criminalization of migration. They asked for regularizing migra-tion, and having the GCM a gender perspective. They highlighted the importance to involve everybody in the process. Gabriela Cuevas, the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, expressed that the parliamen-tarians are the ones who realize how the community is changing for the migration flows, and they are the ones signing, ratifying, and implementing international treaties and agreements.

Mr. Luis Raúl González Pérez, the President of the National Human

India: Knowledge Partnerships and Sustainable Development Goals

A n I n t e r n a t i o n a l I n-terdisciplinary Conference on “Knowledge Partnerships to Ad-vance UN Sustainable Development Goals” was organized by St. Philomena’s College, Mysuru, India, in collaboration with Asia Coopera-tion Dialogue (ACD) University Network, SIAM University, Thai-land, Chulalongkorn University Global Network (CGN), Thailand, and The Sustainability Platform (TSP) on November 17-18, 2017.

There were about 600 participants from all walks of life, including re-search scholars, foreign and Indian delegates, faculty members and stu-dents from various colleges in My-suru.

Dur ing th is Conference , Fr. Lawrence Correa spoke on Climate Change Challenges and Resilience Strategies (SDG 13 – Climate Ac-tion) with special reference to Nat-ural Resources Management, Disas-ter Risk, Reduction and Climate Re-silient Agriculture. Since he was associated with the UN at the time MDGs were introduced in the year 2000, as VIVAT International was being formed, and contributed sub-stantially as part of the NGOs, espe-cially in the area of poverty reduc-tion, he could link them and show how the SDGs were evolved as im-portant goals towards sustainable development. The Paris Agreement’s central aim to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping the temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius

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above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the tempera-ture increase even further to 1.5 de-grees Celsius was highlighted.

He stressed on the role of NGOs in achieving the UN SDGs, with spe-cial reference to SDG No. 13, Cli-mate Action. There is a need for the NGOs to work towards reducing Carbon Dioxide and raise awareness among people for the same. They also need to promote energy revolu-tion that lets us quit coal in favour of renewable energy sources like biomass, wind power and solar en-ergy. They need to raise awareness to protect the forests, so that they contribute to keep our atmosphere clean. NGOs need to collaborate

with the Government and lobby with them in regard to the need to reduce CO2, reduce emissions in vehicles, promote use of alternate energy like wind power and solar energy. They also need to promote and take part in rain water harvest-ing, reforestation, and eco-friendly and non- commercial agriculture. At the Educational Institutions level, courses and projects could be introduced and the students may be educated in this area and made to participate in projects and pro-grammes undertaken by the Govern-ment and NGOs.

Fr. Lawrence Correa SVD, VIVAT Internaitonal India

St. Chad's Sanctuary is a voluntary organization and registered charity oper-ating in central Birming-ham. It was founded in 2010 by Sister Margaret Walsh with the support of the Infant Jesus Sisters, Archdiocese of Birming-ham and the Salvation Army.

The Project’s primary pur-pose is to provide a place of welcome, hospitality and practical support for asylum seekers and refugees, par-ticularly those who have no recourse to public funds. We offer a range of services including distribution of clothes, food, toiletries and household items, English language classes and wel-fare assistance. At present, we three SSpS are involved in this project.

Sr. Adel and I began volunteering from 2013. After a year, I was asked to be one of the six staff member team. There are about 150 volunteers and many gener-ous persons who donate money and things. On a normal day we need about 20 volunteers to cater for up to 100 peo-ple. Currently, it has become a massive project and the only one that helps the refugees and asylum seekers in the Mid-lands, in such a large scale. Sr. Yudith Anu joined us since 2016 as a volunteer.

The Sanctuary is situated closer to the initial accommodation given to the refugees by the government. On their arrival, often, the people who come to

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us for help will have only the clothing that they are wearing and a pair of flip flaps in such cold and wet weather. We provide all that is needed for them to keep themselves warm.

Religious Education is one of the ses-sions we have with the refugees besides English classes and giving various pro-visions. Sr. Margaret takes this class on Friday 2pm -3pm. She helps them to develop their English, express own be-lief without offending or arguing with others beliefs and learn from each oth-er’s faith and religion so that there will be greater tolerance and respect. At times this session she moves to the-Cathedral. As you know the people to

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whom we cater are mainly Muslims.

Many schools have well informed the children about the severity of the situa-tion and taught them how to respond to it. As a result the children from various schools raise funds and give us gener-ously. The awareness given in the parishes got great response as we re-ceive materials as well as volunteers. Many of our volunteers are well quali-fied and experienced. They help the asylum seekers and refugees with teaching English, social activities, immigration and welfare advice, lob-bying campaigns and administration. Above all reach out with warmth and compassion and treat all who arrive at our door with dignity and respect. The regular social evening gives them a platform to relax and share their trau-ma. Ever summer we have almost a week long celebration with the refugees. We call it summer school. It is also the end of the year long English classes – ESOL. During this week, we hire a bus and take them out for a picnic, give them bikes as well as a bike ride along the canals, a grand barbeque, recre-ational activities and the climax is giv-ing the ESOL Certificates with a spe-cial gift to each one of them. I feel that this ministry makes me aware of my own blessings as I listen to the stories of misery and hardship those people go through. I am grateful to the Lord and the congregation for giving me this chance to serve the neediest of our times.

If you like to know more about what is happening visit www.stchadssanctu-ary.com.

Sr. Lizy Joseph SSpS, England

England: ARRAY OF HOPESt. Chad’s Sanctuary in Birmingham

Sr. Lizy (far right) with three other SSpS Sisters in Birmingham

Good news to all the VIVAT International family. Fr. Lourdura-ju, SVD, the JPIC Coordinator of SVD Hungary Province has been awarded as the Prima Primissima of BAZ county in Hungary for his valuable services among the Gypsy community in the fields of social, cultural and educational programs. Fr. Lourduraju has been working for the Gypsy communities for the last four years and since then he is ren-dering valuable services for the Gypsy children, youth and the fami-lies by promoting justice and peace among them.

A starting point for JPIC and VI-VAT mission in Hungary according to Fr. Lourdu has been focused to-wards human formation such as community building, pastoral care and social awareness - rehabilitation

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(alcohol and drug) and also the per-sonality development programs for the fami l i e s , children and the youth by w h i c h J P I C gives human dignity to Ro-mani commu-nity and there-by in teg rate them into the life of the soci-e ty and the c h u r c h . A s JPIC coordina-tor and VIVAT m e m b e r Fr. L o u r d u r a j u also promotes education and skill training by send-ing the youth to different schools for further education and also adults to different skill training courses.

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The people in Fr. Lourdu’s parish are very poor. But there is a growing interest for education among the Gypsy communities. So, along with JPIC team Fr. Lourduraju is working hard to empower the children by facilitating for them many possibili-ties for education, spiritual growth and moral values.

Now in Hungary, the mission among the Gypsies is a perfect example of “putting the last first”. This is an invitation and also a challenge for the Divine Word Missionaries as well as VIVAT members by which we give these poor people a sense of human dignity and identity. Fr. Lourduraju is striving hard to live up to this goal by opening his heart to them and by entering into their real-

ity. Hearty congratulations to Fr. Lourdu and the JPIC team in HUN province.

Daisuke Narui, SVD

Hungary:PrimaPrimissima2017AwardtoFr.Lourduraju,SVD

In September 2017, Brazil is living the worst recession for decades and has 14 million people unemployed. The social environment is increasingly chaotic: changes in legislation threat-ens advances in food security, as well as undermining health, education and social security services and eradication of slavery. According to the UN agency, one in five babies born in Brazil is from a teenage mother. From these, out of five, three do not work or study; seven out of ten are Afro-de-scendants.

Brazil celebrated its removal from the UN hunger map in 2014. Now it is in danger of being reinstated. During the last 12 years about 30 million Brazil-ians escaped extreme poverty with the help of acclaimed social policies like the family allowance. Those living below the poverty line felled from 25% in 2004 to 8% in 2014. Everything seemed to be fine for the feverish con-sumer, the economists and politicians.

But right now, people are awakening from the dream. In fact, increasing economic dates, being included in consumption does not mean citizen-ship or public safety. Nor does it mean access to justice or to the health sys-tem.

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What Brazil missed is a systematic investment in education which con-siders also human rights. We perceive that the global media informs litiga-tion of human rights more than edu-cation and how to implement them. The news seems to focus on generat-ing commotion more than to con-tribute to systemic changes pro-moted by knowledge and subse-quent implementation of human rights.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 26.2) reads: Education shall be direct-ed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for hu-man rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote un-derstanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.  UN Declaration on Hu-man Rights Education and Training (http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Education/Training/Compilation/Pages/Uni tedNat ionsDec lara-tiononHumanRightsEducationand-Training(2011).aspx), establishes that human rights education encompass-es:

(a)  Education about human rights, which includes providing knowledge and understanding of human rights norms and principles, the values that underpin them and the mechanisms for their protection;

(b) Education through human rights, which includes learning and teaching in a way that respects the rights of both educators and learners;

(c)  Education for human rights, which includes empowering persons to enjoy and exercise their rights and to respect and uphold the rights of others.

Brazil:NoEducaMon,NoFuture!

With more education in human right, the people would be able and empowered to face the austerity mea-sures that the government is impos-ing and that will increase poverty in Brazil. They would be able to put pressure on politicians to adopt a fairer tax system (the highest tax rate

in this deeply unequal coun-try is 27.5%). The would fight against the loss of social securi-ty.

And the people would stand up against the high level of police s h o o t i n g s , which, in the c i t y o f S a o

Paulo, was responsible for one in four people murdered in 2015. The police killed 412 people in the capital, rep-resenting 26% of the city's 1,591 murders, a record. In 2014, the po-lice killed 24% of the murder vic-tims. In 2013, 16% and in 2005, 5% (http://g1.globo.com/sao-paulo/noticia/2016/04/uma-em-cada-4-pessoas-assassinadas-em-sp-foi-mor-ta-pela-policia.html).

Without education in human rights, there is no way to break open the circle of violence and humiliation. Without education, there is no way to salve future generations. This is a call for mission for all people of good will.

Sr. Petronella (Nelly) Maria Boonen, SSpS, VIVAT Brazil

Representing VIVAT International, Fr. Daisuke Narui, SVD and Sr. Elisabeth Pedernal, MSCS, participated in the Catholic Inspired NGOs Forum taking place in Villa Aurelia, Rome on January 11 -12, 2017.

PARTICIPANTS OF THE FORUM The 3rd Forum of Catholic Inspired NGOs was held after 7 years from the 2nd Forum. This time, 136 participants from more than 100 organizations par-ticipated from different continents. Those NGOs are basically working on advocacy for different themes. Good number of them have accreditation from the United Nations. Their secretariats are located in different parts of the world, often in relation to their issue such as NY, Geneva, Vienna, Rome, Brussels, Strasbourg, Nairobi, etc. One of the important participants were the representatives from Holy See, particu-larly from the Secretary of the State and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

CONTENTS OF THE FORUM Basically, there were two major contents of the Forum: first is the information and brainstorming on the Forum itself, and the second is inputs from experts.

Information and brainstorming on the Forum itself

Development and nature of the Fo-rum Founding document was presented and various inputs made by the secretariat and the Holy See. To us, following points were important to understand: First, the involvement of the Holy See. The Forum provided very unique space to collaborate with the Holy See (not just with Dicastery for Integral Human De-velopment, but also the Secretary of State). Second, the Holy See provides the forum

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ANOTEFROMTHE3rdFORUMOFCATHOLICINSPIREDNGOs

and mutual learning, but never coordi-nates or directs the activities of the or-ganizations.

Thematic Group Human Rights, Education, Family, Development and Environment, Migration, and Health were identi-fied as thematic groups this Forum. More than 50% of the participants indicated education as their field of interest.

VIVAT representatives participated in migration thematic group discus-sion. Sr. Elizabeth introduced the document of the Dicastery for Inte-gral Human Development of 20 points on the Global Compact for Migrants and Refugees. Good number of organizations committed for the Global Compact.

Fora in 3 cities There are Fora that already exist and have been functioning in Geneva, Rome and Strasbourg. They provide a space for networking and organize seminars and side events. There is no Forum in NY,

but NGOs are encouraged to be in contact with the Permanent Represen-tatives of the Holy See to the UN. Inputs from experts Some experts were invited to give in-puts on the issues of the identified themes.

WAY FORWARD

The secretariat introduced the follow-ing points as the initial future plan: First, in February 2018, the Forum’s website will be launched. English ver-sion will come first, and then other international languages follow. Official email address will be announced. Second, from 2018, the quarterly news-letter will be published. Finally, it will start gathering together as Thematic Working Groups from September or October 2018. The tasks of the Thematic Working

Groups have not yet been cleared, but it will be discuss what is the theme of interest for VIVAT during one of the VIVAT meetings.

Report by Elizabeth Pedernal, MSCS, and Daisuke Narui, SVD,

VIVAT Contact Persons

In this session, VIVAT delivered an oral intervention emphasizing the value and importance of collaboration and part-nerships and lesson-learned from some

good practices by civil society organizations, especially by faith based organizations to address the issue of integrating migrants and refugees into the host society. It also mentioned the importance of community-based approach in facilitating migrants and refugees to be fully integrated into the host communities and cultures. For more information: http://webtv.un.org/search/panel-1-smuggling-of-migrants-2nd-in-formal-hearing-global-compact-on-migration/5604588221001, minutes 53.46 – 57.00.

Robert Mirsel, SVD

From October 2nd to 13th, 2017 VIVAT New York I participated in three United Nations events in Geneva, Switzerland. The first ses-sion: United Nations Social Forum organized by the Of-fice of High Commissioner for Human Rights Council (OHCHRC) under the Theme, “Promotion and Protec-tion of Human Rights in the Con-text of the HIV Epidemic and Other Communicable Diseases and Epidemics”, Palais des Nations, Geneva, 2 – 4 October, 2017: The focus was on seeing HIV/AIDS and other related diseases and epidemics and the people affected by them from a human rights perspec-tive and on the need of col-laboration and partnership for com-bating such epidemics.

VIVAT International also had an opportunity to deliver an oral state-ment on SDG 3 (health) by highlight-ing some good practices by its mem-bers in dealing with epidemics in the countries where its members work such as building hospitals and clinics and health centers; providing doctors and nurses to help improve peoples’ health; running schools that add health education to their curricula; and offering trainings and workshops on health and sanitation as human rights; and offering counseling and rehabilitation centers for people with HIV/AIDS and leprosy. It recom-mended that national and local gov-ernments subsidize its educational and health institutions through na-tional and local budgeting policy for

The second session was a three-day ed-ucation session, 5 – 7 October 2017, organized by the Office of Human Council on Civil Society Participation

the benefit of all being served by VI-VAT members. in UPR and UPR follow-up. It gave space to civil society organizations and individuals to par-ticipate in monitoring and evaluating human the rights situation in their own countries; and introduced proce-dures and mechanisms on how shad-ow reports could be written and sub-mitted by civil society organizations or in s t i tu t ions or ind iv idua l s to OHCHR.

The third session was on the theme “Informal Thematic session on facili-tating safe, orderly and regular migra-tion.” This session took place on 11-13 October 2017 and focused on gaining inputs from Civil Society Or-ganizations, Private Sector and Mem-ber States.

My Participation at UN Events in Geneva

IN THE NAME OF HUMANITY

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Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS) in Poland have been in contact with some Syrian refugee families, for the past two years. One couple, Shadi and Marii, have three children. Sr. Re-nada and Sr. Celina started visiting them

and helping in various aspects of life. Sr. Sisters Celina and Dolores visited them in the small town of Dobrodzien, Poland. The sisters asked for help from the Bishop of Opole, Andrzej Czaja. The bishop put a lot of effort into the issue of the living situation of this family. Through his request a large company donated a house for them. In Opole, SSpS Community is taking care of another Syrian family. Sr. Al-dona, with the support of the local Bish-op and Caritas, helped them to find jobs. The sisters often invited the refugee families to their community. IN the beginning, several people from Syria came to the area and the Bishop offered them houses and other places for them to live, but it was not necessary since they preferred going elsewhere. Most of them went to Germany. The two families the sisters in touch with are Christians and they have chosen to

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REACHING OUT TO REFUGEE FAMILIESStories from Poland and Indonesia

Now, more than 300 widows, whose husbands either died before or after the 1999 conflict, are receiving help from Sr. Sesilia and her organization. Sr. Sesilia said she decided to work with the wid-ows because she felt moved by their suf-fering in the early days when they first sought shelter in West Timor.

To help those in Belu Regency, Sr. Sesil-ia established the “Forum for Women and Children” in 2002. The forum con-tinues its operations today providing aid to the people in cooperation with non-governmental organizations just as the Jesuit Relief Service, UNICEF, and Save the Children. They provided critical support services in the areas of domestic violence and victims of rape, especially much needed educational services. Every year, dozens of former refugees return to Timor Leste. Since 2000, Sr.

Sisilia and her co-workers have facilitat-ed the return of more than 400 people to their homeland.

This article is republished under the permission of SSpS MISSION Magazine with

some modifications.

remain in Poland, even though the living conditions and the social help in Poland are less promising than in Western Europe. The sisters are happy that they are

open to their brothers and s i s t e r s Syr ian refugees. They ex-pressed their gratitude for the presence of these refugees in their midst, as Sr. Dolores wrote: “We are grateful for their presence in our lives because our own hearts are chang-ing and becoming more sensitive towards hu-man poverty and strug-gle. They make us aware that we are one human fami ly belonging to our

one God who is LOVE.” Meanwhile, from Indonesia we hear another story of refugee families. As we know, following the violence that esca-lated around the independence referendum on August 30, 1999 in East Timor (now Timor Leste), hundreds of thousands of people fled to West Timor, Indonesia and 100,000 people chose to continue their lives in the Province f east Nusa Teng-gara, 60,000 of which live in Belu Regency. With her co-workers, Sister Sesilia Agung, SSpS from Bali who has spent most of her time in West Timor or-ganized widows among the refugees for some basic training in cooking, weaving, making bags and religious items (rosary), decoration, etc. These products were sold to markets.

In October 2017 VIVAT Office in New York received a package of the DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES MAGA-ZINE of Fall Edition. At the front cover page of the magazine we found a pic-ture of a woman with a heavy sack full of garbage on her head and a white man trying to put his head under the sack. That man is Fr. Heinz KulÜke, SVD, the current Superior General of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) as well as the President of VIVAT In-ternational. Long before he was elected SG of the SVDs, he had worked in the Philippines as a lecturer at the Universi-ty of San Carlos in Cebu, as an activist, and later as Provincial Superior of the SVDs in the Philippines South. As a missionary of the the Society of Divine Word, his heart was and is still with the poor and marginalized in the slum areas of the country, especially in Cebu City. Together with his fellow SVDs he ran some projects to save the lives of thousands of families to give them a bit of dignity, sustenance, educa-tion and shelter.

But more than t h a t , F r . Heinz and h i s S V D c o n f r e r e s spend their times to talk to everyone w i t h c o m-f o r t i n g words. He k n o w s eve r yone ’s s t r u g g l e s and s to r y, i n c l u d i n g t h a t o f a

woman who brought 13 children into the world and each one died due to the hardships of living in the dump. She was not the only one that has that hor-rible fate.

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Poverty is still a big chal-lenge in the Phil ippines. About 21% of Filipinos l i v e d i n p ov e r t y i n 2015, accord-i n g t o t h e Ph i l i pp ine s Statistics Au-thority, earn-ing less than $1 ,982 per y e a r . T h e number o f poor has hov-ered between 2 0 % a n d 30% for at least the past 10 years  de-spite decades of poverty-reduction ef-forts  under a succession of presidents. Previous efforts over-focused on fiscal expansion and “unsustainable” tax cuts, says Barclays regional economist Rahul Bajoria, though ex-president Benigno A q u i n o m a d e h e a d w ay i n h i s 2010-2016 term. Aquino imposed “sin” taxes to raise revenue needed for pover-ty reduction work and taking a jab at the sensitive issue of family planning. He increased  the infrastructure budget, as well (source: https://www.forbes.-com/sites/ralphjennings/2017/07/06/the-philippines-will-stay-poor-despite-n e w - a n t i - p o v e r t y - p l e d g e s /#5d5c671c176f).

The United Nations has prioritized poverty eradication as its number one goal for 15 years ahead until 2030. Along with the United Nations and oth-er Civil Society Organizations, VIVAT International has also committed to doing its effort to combat poverty in all its forms in the countries and communi-ties where they do their ministries.

What Fr. Heinz and his colleagues have been doing for the poor in the slum ar-eas of the Philippines is an invitation to

all VIVAT members to join efforts to combat poverty and other social prob-lems toward life in dignity for all whom they serve and work with.

Some parts of this article are taken from and republished under the permission of DIVINE

WORD MISSIONARIES MAGAZINE.

ALeaderinWords,ALeaderinDeedsFr.HeinzKulÜke’sCommitmenttoHumanityinthePhilippines

VIVAT INTERNATIONAL 11

STOCKTAKINGPHASE……(…..Con$nuedfromp.2)

The community dimension group highlighted that a better protec-tion of migrants i s t w o w a y process: to con-sider the needs of the migrants and the needs of the community. The communi-ties can have a role in protect-ing migrants in vulnerable situa-tions. It is needed to inform migrants and communities about their responsibilities and rights. The community should address xeno-phobia, provide language training to the migrants, and promote multicultur-al activities. The governments should support capacity building to the com-munities, especially the rural and in-digenous.

In the local/subnational dimension, the rapporteur expressed that migration happens at local level, in the school, work, and churches, and it is here that the narrative of migration changes. There is a labor need, and the recruit-ment should be ethical. Women can be powerful contributors to development, and youth should be included in the migration agenda. The role of national human rights institutions should be considered. For the implementation of the GCM, the grassroots organizations, community and religious leaders should be involved in the process.

The national dimension group asked for a disaggregated data, a better analy-sis, and the inclusion of human rights

protection for migrants. The States have the right to determine conditions of staying for migrants, and the return must be dignified and respectful to human rights. Also, the State has the commit-ment to fight trafficking in persons. The group urged to identify skills and facili-tate employment creation. The In-ternational Organization for Migration (IOM) could help to identify gaps and provide capacity building to the States. The States can link migration policies to the 2030 agenda.

The action group about regional dimen-sions expressed the interest in regional mechanisms and the inclusion of a re-gional process in the GCM. The GCM should encourage regional mechanisms to come out with the best practices, poli-cies, addressment of organize crime is-sues, and cooperation in fighting human trafficking and reducing human smug-gling. Civil societies organizations partic-ipating in the group raised their voices asking for the need of a regional data base, and the addressment of the situa-tion of missing migrants.

The global dimension group stressed the need of legal migration pathways and

and global stan-dards for safe re-turn of migrants. The participants expressed the im-portance that the GCM respects the sovereignty of the countries. Also, they suggested to have IOM leading the process and following it up.

In the follow up and implementa-

tion session, the panelists stressed that the GCM is the beginning of the migration process. The GCM should be transparent in finances and produce an annual report to the UN or expert panel, and be follow up through partnership. The IOM could have a leading coordinated role in the process, and following up the mecha-nism.

In the concluding session, Louise Arbour expressed that the UN Secretary-Gener-al’s report on migration should be re-leased before mid-January. Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, the President of the UN Gener-al Assembly, alerted about “tough nego-tiations” will come for the GCM in 2018. Intergovernmental negotiations will begin in February 2018 and will conclude in July. The document will be complete around August-September, and the adoption of the Compact will be at the end of 2018 in a conference on international migration in Morocco.

Sr. Olga Estela Sanchez Caro, CMS VIVAT International U.S.A.

VIVAT INTERNATIONAL 12INTRODUCING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Part 6

UPCOMING

EVENTS

• 30-31 January 2018: UN Conference on “The role of youth in building sus-tainable and resilient urban and rural communities”, New York.

• 29 January – 7 February: 56th Ses-sion of UN Commission on Social Development. Venue: New York

• 19 February – 19 March: Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 69th session. Venue: Geneva

• 12 – 23 March: Commission on the Status of Women 62nd Session. Venue: New York.

• 13 – 17 March: World Social Forum. Venue: Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

While the world has achieved progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment under the Millennium Development Goals (including equal ac-cess to primary education between girls and boys), women and girls continue to suffer discrimination and violence in every part of the world. Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. Providing women and girls with equal access to education, health care, decent work, and representation in political and economic decision-making processes will fuel sustainable economies and benefit societies and humanity at large.

FACTS

•About  two thirds of countries in the developing regions have achieved gen-der parity in primary education

• In Southern Asia, only 74 girls were enrolled in primary school for every 100 boys in 1990. By 2012, the enrollment ratios were the same for girls as for boys.

• In sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania and Western Asia, girls still face barriers to entering both primary and secondary school.

•Women in Northern Africa hold less than one in five paid jobs in the non-agricultural sector. The proportion of women in paid employment outside the agriculture sector has increased from 35 per cent in 1990 to 41 per cent in 2015

• In 46 countries, women now hold more than 30 per cent of seats in national parliament in at least one chamber.

TARGETS:

The targets under this Goal are:

5.1 End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere; 5.2 Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation;

5.3 Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and fe-male genital mutilation;

5.4 Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate;

5.5 Ensure women’s full and effective par-ticipation and equal opportunities for lead-ership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life;

5.6 Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Develop-ment and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their re-view conferences;

5.a Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws;

5.b Enhance the use of enabling technolo-gy, in particular information and commu-nications technology, to promote the em-powerment of women;

5.c Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promo-tion of gender equality and the empower-ment of all women and girls at all levels;

SOURCE: 1. http://www.unescap.org/resources/

sdg-5-achieve-gender-equality-and-empower-all-women-and-girls

2. http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-5-gender-equality.html

UN Calendar of International Days: January27: International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

February:4 : World Cancer Day6 : International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation11: International Day of Women and Girls in Science13: World Radio Day20: World Day of Social Justice21: International Mother Language Day

March:1 : Zero Discrimination Day3 : World Wildlife Day8 : International Women's Day20: International Day of Happiness21: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Dis-crimination; World Poetry Day; International Day of Forests22: World Water Day23 : World Meteorological Day24: World Tuberculosis Day; International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims27: International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust